A team co-captain and starter of eight games in 2010 before injuries sideswiped his season, Greenstone is a fiery and intelligent competitor who has been a major contributor the last three years. He is a true team guy in much the same way that Adam Smotherman was before him.

But Greenstone lost his starting gig in the preseason to Colt Nichter, who will be lining up alongside Rob Lohr on Saturday against Elon, according to Vanderbilt’s depth chart released this week.

Much of that was Nichter’s doing thanks to his impressive play in camp. But there were days in camp when Greenstone seemed to rub Coach James Franklin the wrong way, and one practice specifically when Franklin called out the fifth-year senior in a very loud, critical way.

“Everybody is motivated differently,” Greenstone said this week. “A lot of coaches will lay off the seniors and just get on the younger guys. But us old guys, we can get stubborn and we need a good butt-ripping every now and then, too.

“Me and Coach Franklin have sat down and had our one-on-one. We sat down and got to the root of where everything is.”

Greenstone, who has 11 career starts (99 career tackles, 15 for loss) and was voted the team’s Most Valuable Defensive Lineman as a sophomore in 2009, doesn’t seem to be hanging his head even though his feelings were undoubtedly stung.

With assistant Sean Spencer’s plans for rotating the defensive linemen every few plays, the native of Lawrenceville, Ga., may wind up playing about as many snaps as Nichter and Lohr. And eventually, he hopes to take one of their jobs.

“In a way, this is a little different role for me … it’s not exactly where would I have seen myself,” he said.

“But one of big things is where I see myself mentally. I see myself as a starter. I’m going to practice as a starter. I’m going to prepare myself as a starter. And I’m going to play as if I’m a starter.”

Spencer has discussed the canine’s characteristics with his linemen in meetings and the words ‘wild dog’ are often muttered on the practice field. He recalls seeing the wild dog on TV when he was young, likely on an old episode of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.

“If you look that guy up, that’s not a pretty animal,” Spencer said. “There are other bigger and stronger animals. But he’s very persistent in what he does.

“Part of the story of the wild dog is that he hunts in packs. Nine out of every 10 hunts he has ends in a kill. We kind of like those percentages. If nine of every 10 rushes we get on the quarterback end in sacks that would be awesome.

“I’ve used (the wild dog story) in other places. Some of my former players hit me up on Facebook and ask: ‘How are the wild dogs doing?’ So it’s kind a cult. I have started a cult.”

Redshirt freshman defensive tackle Vince Taylor, who is having a solid preseason after missing 2010 with a broken wrist, has clearly bought in to Spencer’s canine tales.

“We’ve taken to it,” Taylor said. “We’re getting better with it every day. It’s like we’re turning into dogs. One minute we’ll start barking. Then we’ll start scratching. It’s crazy. And more sacks (in practice) came with it.”

There has been a lack of hunting for quarterbacks the last couple of seasons. Vanderbilt had just 20 sacks in 2010 – the lowest tally in the SEC.